January started off with us still recovering from sickness. But we had a proud parent moment when Jefferson's essay was chosen from all the 5th graders essays to be read at his DARE graduation. He got to meet the mayor and received a special coin.
Brad and Mary headed off to New Orleans for our 2026 (18th anniversary) couples trip. Big thankyou to Josh and Mary for watching our boys. We stayed in the French Quarter and started off our adventure on Bourbon Street. There really is live music and bands and drummers everywhere. For dinner we had a balcony view and tried the taste of New Orleans (crawfish soup, seafood gumbo, red beans and rice, and cajun crab cakes). We walked down Bourbon street and ate beignet fries with chill jazz, went to a rock concert- Karma Doll, caught some piano jazz, and then ended the music night at the Maison Bourbon, dedicated to the preservation of jazz, with the Leroy Marshall band. By the time we walked back to our hotel Bourbon Street was super crowded, we could not imagine how crowded and crazy it gets during Mardi Gras.
The next day we walked along the Mississippi and brunched on beignets at the famous Cafe Dumonde. We walked to the Jazz Historic State Park & Museum and after wandering around the museum and learning about the cultural history of the area and roots of jazz music we enjoyed a concert. When we were walking back to our hotel we stumbled upon an old bookstore that reminded us of the one in Paris across from Notre Dame. We had a Po boy and gumbo dinner and then headed our for the night to a comedy club and had some late night pizza on the way back to our hotel.
The next day we headed out of New Orleans for a swamp tour. We saw little alligators, turtles, birds, and lots of friendly raccoons. We found the Whiskey Tree which became the Wishing Tree for Disney's The Princess and the Frog. We snacked on alligator jerkey and barbeque cheetos (you can only find in the south). When we got back to New Orleans we headed to the mall and Mary got her first Coach purse (very fitting to get in New Orleans). We headed to the Garden District and checked out the jazz guitar and jazz piano at the Trinity Church service. We walked back along Magazine Street and window shopped and enjoyed the street art. We headed to Drago's for dinner but had to wait a bit and stumbled across a symphony concert at the Hilton. For dinner we tried the famous charbroiled oysters, boudin, gulf shrimp, and the lobster marco. It was a seafood feast and the decided charbroiled is the best way to have oysters. We walked to Waffle Time by bourbon street and tried the Chocolate Dubai crepes and then found a chill band on Bourbon street to end the night.
The next day we rode the street car over to the French Market. We enjoyed lunch (cat fish and jambalaya) and a jazz band on Frenchman Street. We strolled down Frenchman street and found a jazz record shop with a kitty. We did some shopping in the French Market and tried Loretta's prailine filled crepes. We were fascinated with the VooDoo museum and then walked back along the river walk. We took a ferry ride and got to see a great skyline view of the city in the sunset. We found a chill restaurant on bourbon street with a great band and our last dinner in New Orleans (Fried crawfish soup and Kentucky bourbon pie- our new favorite pie).
For our final meal in New Orleans we brunched at Fleur de Lis Cafe on oyster benedict and shrimp and grits. So yummy and amazing french design and architecture. New Orleans was so fun, such an incredible adventure of culture, music, and great food. Probably one of our favorite couples trips.
Back at home Jefferson and Mary finished the Noah's Ark puzzle. Jefferson got to go to a hockey clinic and Jefferson did a led an emergency preparedness discussion for our family. We ended the month with another proud parent moment when Jefferson received a council and region award for his video he made for reflections. When we picked him up from school that day he said, I think I will do reflections next year too. Next month we definitely need to take more pictures of our Carterbug!
